Deportation: Offenders

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2011, Official Report, column 502W, on deportation: offenders, what the (a) nationality and (b) offence committed is of foreign nationals subject to multi-agency public protection arrangements whose location is unknown.

Damian Green: The two foreign national prisoners subject to multi agency public protection arrangements whom the UK Border Agency is considering for deportation where their location is unknown are a Polish national convicted of robbery and a national of Yemen convicted of false imprisonment.

Entry Clearances: Domestic Service

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether domestic workers who entered the UK on visit visas are covered by UK employment legislation.

Damian Green: In general overseas domestic workers are entitled to the same key employment rights as all other workers in the UK.

Colombia: Human Rights

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he plans to raise human rights with the President of Colombia during his visit to the UK.

Jeremy Browne: Human rights remain an integral part of our relationship with Colombia and we regularly raise human rights with senior members of the Colombian Government.
	Our discussions with President Santos during his visit will cover a range of issues, including human rights, as well as trade, prosperity, international cooperation, climate change, science and innovation and counter-narcotics.

Libya: Human Rights

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to support the National Transitional Council of Libya to meet its international obligations in respect of human rights; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: During his recent visit to Libya, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), raised concerns about human rights abuses committed by Free Libya Forces, including the recent reporting by Amnesty International on the treatment of detainees, and made clear that the UK expected the National Transitional Council (NTC) to turn its commitment to respect human rights into urgent action. He was assured by the Chairman of the NTC that they were taking action to meet Libya's international obligations in respect of human rights and had already begun investigations into these reports.
	The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs announced UK support for the NTC on policing and in support of their building of a vibrant civil society. He made clear that the UK stood ready to respond to additional requests from the Libya authorities. The UK is funding a project to provide training for lawyers and justice officials in order to improve understanding and adherence to international human rights standards. We will continue to work closely with the NTC as well as our EU and UN counterparts to determine what further specific bilateral support the UK can provide.

Third Sector

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many letters he has received on funding for civil society organisations within his Department's area of responsibility in each month since 1 June 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Owen Paterson: I have received a total nine letters requesting funding since 1 June 2010. One was received in January this year; one in April; five in September and two this month.

Public Sector

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to put in place a right to provide for public sector workers to take over the running of services; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah Teather: The Open Public Services White Paper, published in July 2011, states that we are giving public sector workers who want to form mutuals or co-operatives to deliver public services a right to provide. This will enable public sector workers who want to form new employee-owned mutual companies to take over the running of services. We are working closely with Cabinet Office to help facilitate this in children's services where the conditions are right, and have already made some initial good progress. As part of the Cabinet Office's mutuals pathfinder programme, a small number of local authorities are currently working with their employees in children's services to explore new models of delivery. A grant with 4Children is exploring a range of children's centre delivery models to encourage increased commissioning out of children's centres services by local authorities. This will include exploring opportunities for public sector workers to take over the running of services.
	We are also testing employee owned delivery arrangements through our social work practices (SWPs) pilots. The SWP pilots, announced in December 2008, have seen the creation of independent, social worker-led organisations to deliver services for children and young people in care, including social workers moving out of public sector employment to form their own employee-owned social enterprise. These initiatives will help us to understand, by learning from the front line, what type of support and structures will best enable the development of employee-led mutuals on an ongoing basis.

Excise Duties

Neil Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his rationale is for using the retail price index instead of the consumer price index to calculate increases in duty excise.

Chloe Smith: The Government committed at Budget 2011 to continue to implement the duty increases inherited from the previous Government. These are based on the Retail Prices Index. Budget 2011 announced that the Government will review the use of the Consumer Price Index for indirect taxes once its fiscal consolidation plans have been implemented.

Money: Counterfeit Manufacturing

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of counterfeit (a) £1 and (b) £2 coins in circulation;
	(2)  what recent estimate he has made of the face value of counterfeit coins in circulation.

Chloe Smith: The most recent survey conducted by the Royal Mint found that its sample contained an estimated £1 coin counterfeit rate of 2.94%, or approximately 45 million £1 coins.
	The Royal Mint does not currently undertake regular surveys for other denominations. The Royal Mint, the Serious Organised Crime Agency and industry partners do hot believe that there is a significant counterfeit issue with any other denominations.

Railways: Snow and Ice

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what commitments she has had from (a) train operating companies and (b) Network Rail on provision of passenger information in the event of winter weather-related disruption.

Norman Baker: Train operating companies and Network Rail are implementing a wide range of measures to improve progressively the provision of passenger information in the event of winter weather-related and other disruptions.
	Measures they have taken include improvements to contingency timetables provision and communication methods; alternative contingency timetables for short-notice upload to websites and information displays when disruptions affect normal services; long-line PA systems are being introduced at some stations and some TOCs are now using social media to disseminate information to passengers in real time.
	I regularly meet with train operating companies and Network Rail and preparations for winter, and indeed, autumn related weather disruption is high on the agenda.

Sellafield

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the cost was of decommissioning the nuclear site at Sellafield in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the cost in each year to 2016.

Charles Hendry: holding answer 24 October 2011
	Decommissioning at Sellafield includes all activities from post operational clean out, waste treatment, maintenance of facilities and interim storage before final disposal. The following table sets out what the cost of decommissioning the nuclear site at Sellafield was in each of the last five years, alongside the projected costs in the 2010 spending review period.
	
		
			 Sellafield decommissioning cost 
			  £ million 
			 2006-07 447 
			 2007-08 584 
			 2008-09 662 
			 2009-10 660 
			 2010-11 662 
			 2011-12 762 
			 2012-13 837 
			 2013-14 813 
			 2014-15 741

Libraries

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how much he expects to save through the abolition of the Library Council for England.

Edward Vaizey: Apart from staff time and expenses, there are no expected costs or savings associated with the proposed abolition of the Advisory Council on Libraries (ACL). ACL has no budget, premises, assets, liabilities, contracts or employees. Costs associated with ACL activity, such as members' expenses and hospitality charges for meetings, are charged to the Department for approximately £2,500 per annum.

Government Procurement Card

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what transactions have been made on his Department's Government Procurement Card by each card-holding director and board member of the Audit Commission since 2006-07; and what the (a) supplier, (b) date, (c) amount and (d) name of the card holder was for each transaction.

Bob Neill: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to my hon. Friend direct.
	Letter from Andy McKeon, dated 26 October 2011
	Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply as the Chief Executive is on leave.
	The Audit Commission does not have access to GPC cards provided by the Department. Only the Chief Executive and Chairman held GPC cards. They no longer hold them.
	The Audit Commission does riot hold electronic records on individual card holder transactions from 2006/07 and 2007/08. This information is archived in hard copy, and could only be retrieved at disproportionate cost.
	We have, however, provided information for 2008/09 and 2009/10 on 10 May 2011 official report column 1175-1177w. The only other transaction since 31 March 2010 was on 28 June 2010 by the Chief Executive Eugene Sullivan for £415.15 at the City Inn Westminster.

Armed Forces: Advisory Services

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether armed services personnel receive advice on (a) budgetary and life skills, (b) debt management, (c) physical health, (d) mental health and (e) substance misuse before leaving the armed services.

Andrew Robathan: All service leavers are entitled to some form of resettlement advice, regardless of rank and length of service, which includes financial related briefings, to which spouses/partners are also invited, covering budget and debt management. If individuals wish further advice in-depth one-to-one meetings are also offered and organisations that can provide advice on debt management are signposted by resettlement staff.
	Advice on maintaining good physical and mental health is provided throughout individuals' service careers, which provides them with an excellent foundation for their future civilian life. All personnel receive a discharge medical assessment prior to discharge, at which any specific concerns can be raised. Personnel are given advice on the importance of seeking medical help, including the ability to access the Military Departments of Community Mental Health and are also given advice on other organisations that can provide help, for example from service charities such as Combat Stress. In addition, a counselling service exists for service personnel who, upon leaving the armed forces, are considered by their unit interviewing officer as vulnerable to social exclusion.

Social Fund

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he plans to take to ensure that his proposals to decentralise the Social Fund do not reduce the availability of the Social Fund to vulnerable clients.

Steve Webb: We are not decentralising the Social Fund, we are abolishing the discretionary elements of the Social Fund. New support to replace Community Care Grants and general living expenses Crisis Loans will be administered by local authorities in England and devolved to Scotland and Wales.
	The design of the new local provision will be for individual local authorities and the Administrations in Scotland and Wales. It is expected that the new. assistance will be aligned with existing services. My officials are working closely with local authorities and the devolved Administrations to support them in developing their services.

Social Fund

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he plans to take to ensure that his proposals to decentralise the Social Fund do not result in (a) ineffective targeting of support and (b) geographical inequalities in accessing assistance.

Steve Webb: We are not decentralising the Social Fund, we are abolishing the discretionary elements of the Social Fund. New support to replace Community Care Grants and general living expenses Crisis Loans will be administered by local authorities in England and devolved to Scotland and Wales.
	Local authorities' local knowledge, broad responsibilities and experience of benefits administration put them in an ideal position to refine and deliver the successor schemes to Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans.
	Local design and delivery means that the new providers will have the flexibility to design and deliver the new support in a way that best fits local circumstances and needs and aligns with existing welfare services and can be targeted at those groups and individuals who need it the most.

Female Genital Mutilation

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Department's policy is on steps to eradicate female genital mutilation in developing countries.

Stephen O'Brien: The Government condemns female genital mutilation as an extreme violation of human rights. DFID supports measures to reduce female genital mutilation through our funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) and through our support to non governmental organisations such as the Population Council.